James Stanton's Comments

Comment: Very disappointing to learn about such a major decision being made in private in such a short period of time.. IF we continue down this road, what few freedoms will we be protecting from terrorists?

Comment: The Founding Fathers understood that consolidation of power by the executive branch was not a partisan issue rather it is a fundamental drive of all executive branches whether it be a king or a president or a Roman consul. That's why they created a Constitution with checks and balances and reserved for Congress the exclusive right to declare war. They understood that regardless of party, the executive branch will seek to expand it's power and once given that power will refuse to give it up.

Both parties contributed to the expansion of executive power that led to our current situation. Neither party will elect a president who will do anything but continue to centralize more and more power in his or her hands.

Comment: We have two political parties whose measure of success is whether they win election. Neither one is willingly going to allow the other side to have an advantage in an election. To think otherwise is naive. As for who started it, it's like asking about chicken and eggs Rove, Obama, Mitt...it's beside the point. It was going to happen because it was allowed by legislation and the Supreme Court. It's an important issue but the division is not necessarily along party lines.

Comment: I use Mint. I used to use Quicken but the file corruption problem eventually got so bad that it was unusable. In addition I keep my accounts and bank through Schwab which allows me to do most things online with a single log in.Morningstar is helpful in looking at my overall portfolio from different aspects.

Comment: You might also look at CycloMundo which also operates in France, Switzerland and Spain. I'm sure they have connections in Italy. Had a great, self directed trip last summer and wish I could join the group going back this year.